Bonginkosi ‘Zola’ Dlamini is alive and well, according to his handlers, but before this fake news was cleared, Mzansi’s netizens were up in arms at the thought of the musician’s untimely death.
Zola death is fake news – His management confirms
This weekend was a ‘freak-out’ fest on social media, after claims surfaced that the host of the legendary reality TV show Zola 7 had passed away.
However, the 47-year-old’s manager and partner Siki Kunene confirmed to a number of reporters that the claim was baseless and highly irresponsible.
Speaking to TshisaLive, Zola’s manager confirmed that the retired rapper was recovering well from a recent health scare, where he was forced to undergo treatment at a hospital.
Apart from this, Kunene said, Zola is alive, well and striding ahead, contrary to reports that he was dead.
Dlamini’s long road to a healthy life
Zola has recently opened up quite a bit about his health. In a podcast episode with MacG that went viral, the 47-year-old revealed that for the longest time, he’d ignored clear signs that nudged at him to take another look at his lifestyle.
“I lost a lot of weight over the past year. I was extremely sick, I was home and I was shaking. Everybody around me was scared I was going to die. I couldn’t eat well. I was eating Mageu, porridge and Fish,” he told the podcast.
The retired rapper’s situation was so bad, he could hardly keep up with the vocal demands of music recording and his appearance on Cassper Nyovest’s Bonginkosi was nothing short of an uphill battle to overcome.
“I was very sick during that song [with Cassper] and I think we did about 25 cuts. I was fighting to look normal, but I wasn’t. I was extremely very sick during that video,” he conceded.
According to Kunene, Zola has taken heed on forging a new lifestyle and the retired MC is doing everything he can to stay healthy. Shockingly, the manager revealed, the 47-year-old had been living with chronic epilepsy for years and he barely knew about it.
“Due to lack of knowledge, we didn’t understand the illness, hence it has been neglected for so long. However, we have it by the horns, battling it daily,” Kunene told City Press.
The Don’t Cry hitmaker has adjusted his diet and he regularly takes his medicine. Gladly, Zola is still alive to receive his flowers.